My Name is Eliran Bar On, and I Paint What I Feel
I’m not just a painter. I’m someone who uses art to survive, to breathe, and to tell the truth. I work primarily with oil on canvas, creating layered portraits that reflect the emotional complexity of being human — especially when living with post-trauma.
My journey into painting didn’t begin in art school. It started in childhood with a love for drawing that was buried for years. It wasn’t until my mother found an old sketchbook and reminded me of that forgotten passion that I picked up a pencil again.
From charcoal to pencil, acrylic to oil — I experimented with mediums until oil paint stopped me in my tracks. There’s something wild and untamable about it. Something alive. That intensity mirrored the way I feel inside. And that’s when everything changed.
Living and Painting With Post-Trauma
I live with post-trauma. It doesn’t define me, but it’s part of me. It walks beside me — sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly. When I paint, the noise fades. Sometimes, it disappears.
Trauma has shaped the way I see people — not just as faces, but as layers. I rarely paint just one version of a person. We are all made of layers: of memories, fears, hopes, versions of ourselves we no longer recognize. That’s what I try to capture on canvas.
Often, I paint myself more than once in the same portrait — because I am never alone. The functional me is always standing next to the post-traumatized me. We are both there, in every piece.
What My Art Is About
I focus mostly on portraiture — because everything is written in the face.
I paint emotions: joy, pain, silence, intensity, love, and disconnection.
Sometimes, the emotion is uncomfortable. That’s okay. Real emotion should make us feel something — not just decorate a wall.
My work is expressive, layered, and sometimes confrontational. But above all, it’s honest.
Need help with artistic terms? Browse the glossary.
Curious about what inspires my work? Visit the Inspiration page.
My Mission as an Artist
If you’ve ever lived with trauma, anxiety, depression — or if you’ve ever simply felt too much — my art is for you.
I want people to stand in front of one of my paintings and feel something shift. I want them to connect with a part of themselves they didn’t know needed to be seen.
Whether you’re here to collect, rent, or simply observe — I hope you leave this page having seen something real.
